The Avatar Times

exploring consciousnessissue seventeen

The Avatar Course is nothing more or less than an escape from a mind trap, which you have been caught in for so long, that you forgot what freedom feels like.

Find Your Power

by Harry Palmer In an effort to categorize realities, somebody came up with the concepts of objective and subjective. Objective refers to a reality that is outside of your mind, and subjective refers to a reality that is inside of your mind. For example, a chair in the middle of the room is outside your mind, so it would be considered in the category of objective reality. You have feelings about the chair and think that it is beautiful. The idea "beautiful" is inside your mind. It is considered a subjective reality.

No problems yet, right?

Objective and subjective seem to be logical categories until the items they contain begin crossing over. For example, imagine that everyone else also finds the chair in the middle of the room to be beautiful. The chair is placed in a museum and admired by thousands of art critics who come to see the beautiful chair. The subjective idea of "beautiful," has, by agreement, taken on the characteristic of objective reality. Both chair and the idea of beautiful are now outside of your mind.

Okay, that's nothing that we need to get excited about, but notice the flow of creation. It starts with a subjective idea, gains agreement, and ends up as an objective quality. If you think about this, you will realize it is another argument for the Avatar axiom: "When you are living deliberately, belief creates experience."

Is beauty always subjective? Some of you say yes. So let's go even more basic. There is "something" in the middle of the room. That something is the objective reality outside of your mind. Other people would agree there is something in the middle of the room. They can see it too. You decide to call the something in the middle of the room a "chair."

The idea "chair" is in your mind. It is a subjective reality. Someone else might label the thing in the middle of the room something different. "Oh that thing, it's a sitter."

As long as there is disagreement about what to label the thing in the middle of the room, there is no question that the labels are subjective. You have one group that calls the thing a "sitter," and you have another group that calls the thing a "chair." Everyone is entitled to his or her own viewpoint. We should let it go at that, but then someone asks the most dangerous question: "Who is right?"

Rightness is like "beauty"; it is always subjective, right? Not everyone agrees. In the sitter camp, "sitter" is right. In the chair camp, "chair" is right.

Let us suppose that instead of discussing something in the middle of the room, you are discussing your religious convictions. Would you like it if someone pointed out that your religious convictions are subjective? What does that lead to? It leads to people defending their subjective opinions.

The chair camp attacks the sitter camp and kills them all. It's a holy war. Right after the last murdered sitter draws his last breath, the label for that thing in the middle of the room becomes by unanimous, objective agreement, a chair. Do you see this?

Does this shed any light on the crusades?

How much bloodshed and chaos have been caused by people futilely trying to turn a subjective opinion into an objective reality? How many people secure their faith by persuading others? There is a certain casualness about the "live and let live" philosophy that does not always extend to serious matters, or to those matters we decided to make serious.

If you want to go even more basic than language and labels, you will find yourself dealing with perceptions, impressions, and sensations-feelings. Stay with me, because I am going to move this talk beyond mental speculation. Look around at whatever you see, and just take the word labels off of everything.

You can do it. Take the word labels off everything.

(The room becomes very quiet.)

This is the realm of pure forms. Some people consider this to be ultimate objectivity. But notice that I am still using the word, "consider." Some people consider...

Consider is a subjective process. So you still have this little bit of subjective even in this realm of pure forms. This next statement may surprise some of you: The little bit of subjective that cannot be eliminated from the realm of pure forms is you.Are you subjective? Is "I" subjective? Well, you are not an object are you? And you are not a quality that everyone agrees on.

Let us go a step further and burrow into this "you-I"?

Take all the word labels off of the you-thing that is looking around. Just drop every consideration or definition you have for your self-thing.

The core of the matter is that you are beyond the dichotomy of subjective and objective. There is an awareness of mental forms that are shaped from awareness.

Can anyone go further?

The illusion that you are dispelling is that awareness is inside the mind, and something else is outside the mind. That something outside the mind ? objective reality? appears to be independent of you. But it is you that makes it independent. You subjectively decide what is objective.

If you cease to separate the concepts from the forms, throw out all the definitions and edges, everything is one undifferentiated whole. Throw out the subjective "I" and the objective "it" and there is only a potential oneness waiting to define it self.

There is a quote in the Bible: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."

Now we are discussing the birth of an Avatar.

What I have been talking about is how you fell into the mind trap. It starts like this: you conclude that you are the result of an independent objective reality that is out there and beyond your control. "Abandon all hope ye who enter here."

You imagine consciousness as arising from the world rather than the world arising from consciousness. Or worded differently, you believe that your subjective arose from the objective. The day you believe this you are trapped. Bye-bye source being. You have the flow of creation going the wrong way. It's flowing in on you.

The trap tries to convince you that your beliefs are caused by your experiences. You begin to look to the world as the cause of your beliefs. You are trapped.

You get psychotherapy looking into the past. You get religions looking for sins and anti-social influences. You get seekers looking for past lives, prenatal experiences, and parental abuse. And the only comfort that any of these approaches affords is that you stop struggling and surrender to the trap.

You have sacrificed the whole for a tiny fraction of helplessness. You have abandoned the power of your own decision.

I'm happy to tell you that it is not the world, it is not the past, and it is not your parents that are responsible for how you experience reality. Your destiny is not shaped by the impact of any objective reality; it is shaped by the interpretation that you place on that perceived impact. You are it, buster! Stay in the trap or wake up and have it all.

The Avatar Course is a magic ride through consciousness to find the power to shape reality, both subjective and objective. Get on board.

The Story of The Avatar Course

The above article is taken from a talk I gave about the background for Chapter 13, "The Great Divide" of my book, Living Deliberately, The Discovery and Development of Avatar. You can download a free electronic copy of Living Deliberately here.

Extraordinary Moments

First of all, a word of thanks to you for making this material available to me. I have struggled with pretending to be me for the better part of my life. I was so far removed from my Source that I couldn't even identify who I was or when I wasn't me. Through the exercises, I have experienced clearly what the problem was and even better, the exercises offered the solution. Which is more than most therapies do. I have made the primary to attend the Master's Course and feel very motivated to contribute to making this lovely Planet more enlightened by helping other people to regain their ability to have positive control of their lives and become more happy and care for the whole world. Thank you. –L. v/d L.

I found a sense of personal momentum and freedom to create which has been covered over by barnacles of secondaries. I am very ambitious to help create global eco-social well-being and evolve the new wisdom economy out of the current knowledge economy. Avatar is the first course I have found which deals with the way consciousness functions. –A.W.

Dear Harry,

Today we are on Day 10 of the Melbourne Avatar Course and I am witnessing the many miracles that your tools create.

Barbara has just been announced and is leaving a happy woman in love with her life and her family.

Her daughter Alison is a fellow AI, and I love the way we get the care for each others? families in such an empowering way. Alison too is glowing as she's walking out with her new Mum who in only 10 days has changed so much that she's created a new love for her husband and family and children, and is free of the guilt and anger she's been living in since her son's death. We are so lucky to be a part of a true miracle of this amazing team. – S.Z.

Dear Harry,

Someone told me this goes straight to you. I think that's awesome, though I do have to comment on how many people use the word "awesome" here.

Anyways, I'm 16 years old, in Australia. I'm in Melbourne, the 1st-9th of March, Avatar Course. You have done a brilliant job! Seriously, I had numerous doubts before I came here. My Mum had already sent me to three counselors and was about to give up on me. She did this course first. She changed so much for the better. I feel great. My flight is in a few hours and I am happy to leave, not that I disliked the experience, but because I, in myself, can feel the shift. My past is no longer in control. I'm excited to grow. I don?t even recall most of my feelings for wanting to go back. I have so many people to thank, going to the core, though there's only two people! 1.You, because of your faith and belief. You have changed so many people by letting them realize and experience. And 2. Myself. That's the best thing. Now I am the Source, the Power! EVERYTHING! It's me who does it for me. You should feel proud, which is awesome (that word again), and it's so cool! –S.B.

Dear Harry,

Five months ago, I left my hometown of Park City, Utah, because I didn't want to live in the town where my former husband, recovering alcoholic, and his new wife, a friend of mine, lived. I moved to Hawaii to get away from it. After my Walk for Atonement in the evening sun tonight, I knew I could live near them, meet them, and feel nothing but Love and Compassion for both of them. Thank You Harry. This is amazing. These courses are unbelievable. –C.H.

For more "extraordinary moments" from Avatar students, please visit AvatarResults.com

Isn't It Time?

If you would like to have an Avatar Master contact you, please click here.

With Avatar everyone wins. Every person who becomes an Avatar shifts the collective consciousness toward greater tolerance and understanding. Helping yourself with Avatar helps everyone else at the same time. – Harry Palmer